Baltimore is big on both sides of the line. They are physical. They have bruising tailbacks. The defensive schemes are complex. They pressure quarterbacks, and possess a secondary that forces turnovers.

It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes the Dolphins to develop into that type of team, which is Tony Sparano’s goal. Could it possibly be done in one offseason by luring a couple of Ravens?

Middle linebacker Ray Lewis will likely be a free agent? And so might hybrid defensive end/linebacker Terrell Suggs? Only one of those Pro Bowlers will get the franchise tag, which means the other will likely hit the open market, and eventually escape to the highest bidder.

Each will want to become the highest paid player at their position, which means Suggs (who was tagged last year at around $8.5 million) will be looking for something in the neighborhood of 6-years, $74 million, with roughly $30 million of it guaranteed. The Vikings gave Jared Allen $31 million in guaranteed money on a six-year $73 million deal.

Suggs just turned 26, but is coming off one of his least productive seasons. He contributed 68 tackles, eight sacks and two interceptions during the regular season. But you saw how disruptive (four tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery) he can be against the Dolphins last Sunday.

Wouldn’t he look nice lining up opposite Joey Porter? The Dolphins opened their wallets pursuing Calvin Pace last offseason, and that was with Porter and Jason Taylor already on the roster. You’d have to suspect high on the Trifecta’s must-find list is a second pass rusher, and drafting one isn’t likely a favorable option considering it usually takes a college defensive end a season or two to make the adjustment needed to become a successful pass rushing outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme.

Lewis is already the NFL’s highest paid linebacker ($9,428,571 last season). It’s unlikely the former Hurricane and Florida resident is interested in taking much of a pay cut considering he’s in pursuit of his last big contract. But how much does this 33-year-old have left in the tank?

I personally believe Ozzie Newsome is one of the best executives in the business, so it will be interesting to see what happens in Baltimore this offseason.

It should also be pointed out inside linebacker Bart Scott, who is 28, is also a free agent. Scott, who contributed eight tackles (one for a loss) against the Dolphins, fits the Trifecta’s size mold. He has experience in a 3-4 scheme, and is coming off a season where he registered 86 tackles, 1.5 sacks, broke up five passes, and forced two fumbles. It’s unlikely the Ravens can commit that much money to three defenders, so one of those defenders will likely leave Baltimore.

Maybe Scott, who has 16 career sacks, does and makes a big name for himself like Adalius Thomas did when he made a run for the money in 2007 and became a Patriot. Could he be Channing Crowder’s possible replacement?

Scott will likely join Arizona’s Karlos Dansby as the most in demand middle linebackers on the open market. But expect Dansby to get franchise tagged, just as he was last year.

Ravens fullback Lorenzo Neal, a 15-year veteran, is also expected to become a free agent. Neal is 1,000 years old, but he was extremely effective as a lead blocker. He was part of the reason Porter and Matt Roth struggled setting the edge.

I’ve got nothing against Lousaka Polite, who is a first down machine and probably the best of Jeff Ireland’s waiver wire finds. But Polite is not a strong lead blocker, which is one of the many components this running game is missing.

The reason I bring up all these Ravens is because I was doing my rewind of last Sunday’s Baltimore loss and it reminded me how dominant…really dominant… the Ravens defense is.

It would be a crime if defensive coordinator Rex Ryan doesn’t become a head coach this offseason (maybe Oakland would be a good fit considering his brother is already the defensive coordinator there).

I’m also going out on a limb and picking the Ravens to play Carolina in the Super Bowl.

Omar, pls get your nose out of Ray Lewis’s butt. Maybe you would be happier writing for the Baltimore Sun where you could suck up to Ray Ray and Ed all day.
The Dolphins under Wanny were the Ravens. REMEMBER??? What did it get them? Nothing!
Yeah, the Ravens have a SB. One. A fluke, IMO, to win one with Dilfer as the QB. If the Ravens were really the bomb, they should have done more.
They are too one dimensional. And so are you.
No, I think the blue print is the one Parcells & Company are on.

AZ,
I think we’ll look to get a WR in FA simply b/c it might take too long to draft a kid and have him up and running when we’re competing for a championship in 2 or 3 years.
The geniuses all say it takes a WR 3 years to reach his potential. I think that’s a crock, but everyone else seems to believe it.
So, why pick a WR this year and not even have him be able to fill that #1 role for another 3 years?

Bungle, some team will think of that when drafting Harvin. It’s not part of the Trifecta’s blueprint, but there are teams out there that think they can win with little speedsters. Maybe Oakland will take him.

Randy,
I fully agree. Unless we can get an instant STUD in the draft, which would require us using our 1st rounder, I’d much rather see us fill that hole in FA so we can avoid the 2-3 year development period. And even though it is highly unlikely we’d trade the picks neccessary to land Boldin,just the thought of him lined up as a Dolphin is just to good to ignore

I was not aware of this, but the 6th round pick we traded to Dallas for Ferguson and their 6th round pick, was used to draft Erik Walden (who was later waived). We dropped 28 picks later to draft Donald Thomas with the pick from Dallas.
Technically, this means we got Erik Walden, Jason Ferguson AND Donald Thomas with ONE 6th round draft pick!

Tin,
I wasn’t aware that Florida is like Korea…having a North and South so to speak.*L*
My question about Harvin was just general. I saw the piece on him, and he intrigued me. I thought he looked like a great 3rd down, change of pace-type guy…or a dynamic returner. I had no idea people thought he would go in the top 10…that seems like a bit of a reach for a player with a significant injury like his.

An istant stud in the draft is Rutgers Kenny Britt (6-4 215 only 20 yo), he’s the big #1 target we’re looking for, he’s strong, physical, thrusts defenders and is YAC specialist.Maybe we can use a 2nd round pick for him

“great 3rd down, change of pace-type guy…or a dynamic returner”
Thats almost a direct quote of what I said yesterday about him. He was graded in the top ten around midseason but has now dropped to #32 according to McShay (cringe).
Of course, this is the same guy that said a couple of months ago that Tebow couldn’t play QB in the NFL, but today listed him as the 5th best QB in the draft.

Mr Bungle, we gave up THIS years pick and swapped last years picks. Then we ended up with the player they selected with that pick. And we used their pick to get Thomas. And we got Ferguson. That’s three players and we only LOST this years 6th round pick. ONE pick. not two.

“Nevermind bungle i see your point…we basically got Walden and Ferguson for this year’s 6th.”
Right, but I see what you were saying. We got all three of those players before this year’s 6th was even active.

“An istant stud in the draft is Rutgers Kenny Britt (6-4 215 only 20 yo), he’s the big #1 target we’re looking for, he’s strong, physical, thrusts defenders and is YAC specialist.Maybe we can use a 2nd round pick for him”
Oronde86,
You’re right about Britt. I was real impressed with him. Big, fast, physical etc… he fits the mold of what the Trifecta wants. Although, I don’t know if they’ll draft a WR early. That’s not their track record.

Tin,
I like that your draft selections would make our D perhaps a little bit scary.
It might be a personal bias, but ever since the Hogs handled the Killer B’s in the WoodStrock SB (XVII?), I have been a huge fan of a big, dominating offensive line. As of yet, we haven’t had the coaches or GM to make my preference a reality. I think we might finally have the people in place that are determined to have the OL I’ve wanted since before Marino was a Dolphin (showing my age).
I hope I’m right. I would love to see the Dolphins draft at least one OL on the first day, and 3 or 4 in total. I still want to see what is up with Murphy. Will he be ready to compete next year or was he a complete waste?

Tin,
Further evidence of how well we did in trades before the first pre-season snap – Fox reported that the Dallas pick used to get Walden could be traced indirectly back to the 4th we sent them for Fasano and Ayodele and if you can’t remember how we got that pick, open this link. It’s one of the best stories I read all season. It really made me realise the Trifecta knows what they are doing and it’s why we got to the play-offs in year 1.http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9028348/Miami-Dolphins‘-trade-for-Ayodele,-Fasano-one-sided-

I know we’d have to possibly have to move up in order to draft him, but I really really like USC saftey Taylor Mays. He’s the perfect combination of size, speed, and ball hawk ability that we need. Any thoughts?

“I’m not sure how fast Kenny really is. Fast for Rutgers might not be fast for NFL. He hasnt seemed that fast to me. ”
Cam,
Its tough to judge speed by watching guys run on TV, but one of the things I look at is how fast does a WR close the cushion from a CB. And when I watched Britt he seemed to explode off the line and close that cushion really fast.
It’s not like he’s a 5-10, 180 lb guy. He’s 6-4, 215.
Granted, he didn’t play against great CB play in the Big East, but most college WR’s don’t face stiff competition each week.
The Senior Bowl practices are the best way to judge WR’s because they face decent CB’s, but Britt is a junior, so we won’t have that opportunity.

Iknow we’d possibly have to move up slightly to draft him, but I really really like USC safety Taylor Mays.. he’s the perfect combination of size and speed Parcells likes, and is a hard hitting, big play, ballhawk.. He’d look great back there in our secondary. any thoughts?

I hope you’re right Bungle.
That said, I also would love to see a very, very good if not dominating defense built at the same time. It would be great to consider a 10 point lead “safe”. As good as the JT, Zach, et al defenses were, I never considered any lead safe. With a Giants or Steelers type defense (or Ravens), I might rest easier in the 3rd or 4th quarter.
It would also help if once that lead was built, when the D gave the ball back to the O, we lined up and said “we’re going to run it – try and stop us”, and the other team couldn’t. That is how you win 12, 13, 14 games year in, year out. And that is what you need to do to get to the promised land.
Preaching to the choir, I know.

I will be furious if we lose Parcells for any reason, weather it be because of Ross driving him out, or Parcells leaving on his own. This has been one of the most enjoyable Football seasons I can remember, and Parcells is probably the main reason. Kinda makes me nervous about what this Ross is all about. Does he want to win football games, or turn this into a circus with celebrities. This is football, not a Laker game.

Tin, there have been many reports that suggest Mays will leave USC for the NFL because his draft stock is high and his size to speed ratio will probably get him drafted no later than the middle of the 1st round.

uk, that’s a fun little article. But it’s written by Jeff Darlington who can never seem to connect ALL the dots in the end. he didn’t even mention the Ferguson deal and that the Walden pick was part of that deal with the Dolphins. I have had some frustrating discussions with him because if you ask him a 3 part question he will only answer 1.25 parts of it.

Tin, I understand the criteria for your board. I’ve read that Mays runs in the 4.3s. That’s scary for a 6-3 225 guy.
Darlington doesn’t completely answer your 3 part question because he only reads 50% of it. : )

Tin,
I realised after I’d sent it that Darlington from the Herald wrote it and you are right, the 4th round pick for Booker had nothing to do with the 6th and Ferguson!
Incidentally, you may already know about it, but I noticed you and Bungle the other day discussing the roster. There is a more up to date one on Curt Fennell’s site (Phins.com). I use his news wire daily as it gathers articles about the Fins by magic (I’m not an IT nerd). I’ve posted links to the draft page (last year’s currently), the roster page and the news wire page below (no I’m not on commission!) in case any other posters don’t know about it and want to use it.http://www.phins.com/draft/http://www.phins.com/droster.phphttp://www.phins.com/phins-news.php

“Mays is a FREE safety not a strong safety and he has not declared for the draft.”
True, but at 6-3, 230 lbs. I’m assuming the NFL is going to want him to play strong safety.
I know he hasn’t declared yet, but most juniors are declaring this year because of their fear of a change in rookie compensation, regardless of what the Commish said.
I’d be surprised if he didn’t leave with Maualuga, Cushing, Matthews, Moala and Ellison leaving this year.

hey o,
I would luv suggs ,but i would want antonio bryant over housh , he is younger bigger faster. How bout u.If we got those 2 in fa I wouldnt care who else we signed,those 2 plus another soid draft and the improvements of young guys im thinking payoffs even with tough sched. Your thoughts o and feow bloggers

Joe W, if he comes out this year he will lose out due to his teammates being picked ahead of him. Next year he could be a top ten pick. With all the underclassmen expected to come out, next year’s senior class will be very thin and he could be a huge star because of it. That said, he’s from L.A. so he’ll probably follow the money and lights instead of his education .
Plus plenty of Free Safeties have and have had that size (seems like they used to be a lot bigger back in the day). Think Louis Oliver or that guy that Omar likes in St Louis. I think he’s about 230 as well.

OMAR KELLY was unsuccessful at achieving his childhood dream to become a super hero, so he figured he'd do the next best thing and become a journalist who fights against injustice, and searches for truth. After being bored to death reporting news and covering politics, he switched to sports.
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IZZY GOULD joined the Sun Sentinel in Feb. 2012 as a Senior Sports Reporter on the Miami Dolphins beat. He came to South Florida fresh off covering the University of Alabama football program, including its 2011 national championship team. More